A new standardized test finds that less than half of New Jersey's public high school juniors are ready for college.

New Jersey Department of Education officials released the results of the PARCC test that was given for the first time last spring to students in third through 11th grades.

State education officials, college presidents and business representatives say the test is providing useful information to make sure that students meet the new nationwide Common Core curriculum standards.

Generally, students at lower grades fared better than high school students. The results for students in upper grades are consistent with what the SAT and other tests have shown about New Jersey.

Forty-four percent of 11th-graders were deemed college-ready.

New Jersey Education Commissioner David Hespe says that it is not time to panic.

"It's the first year of an initial test that was delivered in a new format, a computerized format. Ninety-nine percent of our students couldn't get on computers, so we should be humble. We should be patient. We should take our time to review all of this information," Hespe says.

The PARCC test has not been without controversy. In the spring, many students opted out of the tests. Commissioner Hespe says this data still has to be analyzed and separated, but feels comfortable moving forward.

Parents can expect to get their children's test results in November.